Driving in England

Yesterday, Greg and I started our adventures in the English countryside, specifically the birthplace of Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon.  The adventure started with renting a car.  When we started planning for our trip, we decided we were not going to rent a car, but take trains and public transit everywhere.  We were especially not going to rent a car in England, because neither of us wanted to deal with driving on the left hand side of the road. We changed our minds when we decided to spend two nights in Stratford. We are leaving tomorrow for Paris, and we did not want to miss our connection to Paris.  With all the predicted delays caused by work on the train lines on the weekends, we decided it would be easier to rent a car. Renting a car has the added bonus of giving us the freedom of the countryside, allowing us to explore a bit more around Stratford.

Automatic transmission cars are much more expensive to rent here than manual transmission cars, so a manual transmission was what I got.  I love driving manual transmissions, but I don't do it very often anymore.  To add to the complexity of driving on the left side of the road, the stick shift is on the left, rather than the right. Fortunately, the clutch, brake, and gas are all the same, and the shifting goes from left to right just like I am used to, so I only had to get used to shifting with my left hand. YES! Finally my left-handedness is an advantage!

We chose a cute little Peugeot for our ride. I wanted the VW, but I got overruled.  Starting off wasn't too bad.  After the first roundabout (clockwise, rather than counter-clockwise), and a few bumps on the curb on the left side of the car, we merged on to the freeway. I am not sure what they call freeways here, but that is what it was. Freeway driving is easy on the wrong side of the road. It is just like driving on any metro freeway in America.  I find that I tend to drift to the left side of the lane, which is why I kept bumping the curbs in the roundabout.  I have to focus on staying on the right side of the lane, but yet keep on the left side of the road.

The first real challenge came at our first exit, and the first two lane road. It was much more disconcerting driving on the left in two way traffic than I thought it would be.  We exited at a WelcomeBreak, a sort of rest area with petrol station, food court, and small grocery. We were both hungry, and I wanted to pick up a map. After some fish and chips and a pot of tea, we were ready to continue on.

Exiting the freeway for Stratford, I had my first close call.  We had gone through two roundabouts with lights, and I got in the habit of following the truck in front of me and I wasn't paying attention at the next roundabout which had no lights, and I nearly forgot to yield (or Give Way as the signs say here).  I stopped in time, no harm no foul, but it certainly woke me up.  After that I was a bit frazzled, especially when I took the wrong exit at the next roundabout, and Greg's iPhone GPS app kept telling me repeatedly in her annoyingly calm English accent to "Make a U-turn".  Heck, even taking a U-turn required mental gymnastics as I had to figure out which way to turn. Driving backwards from everything you have made second nature is disconcerting!

We arrived at last at the Victoria Spa Lodge in Stratford.  I decided we should walk into town rather than drive and park. I had had enough English driving for one day.

Birds

Until yesterday when we arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon, about the only birds I had seen were rock doves, your basic everyday city pigeon.  Now that we are in the countryside, I am regretting that I did not bring my binoculars.  So many birds! And the only ones that are not new to me are starlings and English sparrows (I have to work to overcome my American prejudice to these birds, remembering that now I am seeing them in their native habitat).  Yesterday, I finally saw a robin, after chasing down several songbirds. I have always wanted to see an English robin.

Walking into Stratford from the bed and breakfast, I took pictures of some of the birds I saw.

If anyone knows who the above are (besides the swan and mallards) let me know! And if you have any good online resources for English, French, or Spanish birds, let me know as well.

Continuing Adventures in London

Yesterday was our first full day in London, with a full night's sleep behind us.  Ah London!  Being a complete bibliophile, I have a long reading acquaintance with London, and there is too much I want to see here in the little time we have.  I am also a history geek, and there is so much to absorb in a city with such a long history.  Where to start?

We took the tube from West Kensington to Westminster. Some of the Underground is actually above ground.

The West Kensington platform:

The first sight to meet me as we emerged from the Underground at Westminster (which is actually underground) was Big Ben.

I was so excited to finally see this icon that I could hardly keep from skipping down the street.  There was so much to see on the crowded street.  We walked out on to the bridge for a view of the Thames and  the London Eye.

Greg had to indulge me with several pictures of telephone booths with Big Ben in the background.

We decided to start at the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms (http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/).  It was fascinating to walk through the underground offices and rooms constructed in anticipation of aerial bombing in WWII. It was dimly lit and very tight quarters; I can't imagine what it would have been like to spend days in there, especially with bombs falling overhead.  It was quite a testament to the spirit and endurance of the English people.

Entrance to War Rooms:

From here, we walked over to Downing Street, which was very heavily guarded (and crowded with tourists like us).  Unfortunately, we couldn't walk down Downing Street.

We decided to head to the House of Parliament to see how long the wait was to see the debates.  We were in luck; the wait to get into the House of Commons was only about 5 minutes.  After going through security, we entered Westminster Hall, built in 1099.

At the head of the stairway at the end of the hall was a magnificent stained glass window.

We walked up to the House of Commons and took our place in the gallery. I was hoping for a rousing debate with lots of MP's, the likes of which they occasionally show on CSPAN. Instead, there were only about 20 MP's in the room, serenely debating a police bill with no real opposition.  Nonetheless, it was a fascinating look at representative government at work. Before exiting the secured area of the grounds, we took a few more pictures:

From the House of Parliament, we walked to Westminster Abbey (http://www.westminster-abbey.org). 

There was no photography allowed within Westminster Abbey.  I will admit that Westminster Abbey was the biggest surprise of the day for me.  I had always heard of all the kings, queens, poets, and dignitaries buried within Westminster Abbey, and I pictured a giant, enormously old, graveyard beside the church. What I didn't know until I entered the church was that all those people are buried inside the church.  There are over 600 memorials within the Abbey.  We took our time walking through the Abbey and seeing the ancient graves.

After all the walking we did, it was time to refresh ourselves with a late lunch at a nearby pub.

After lunch we decided to visit the British Museum, since our information told us that it was open late on Thursdays. We hopped the tube over and walked to the gate.

We were then turned away, because my guidebook was wrong about the hours. Note to self, double check hours online before visiting next time.  We will hit the British Museum on the last day of our trip, because I do not want to miss it!

Today we leave for Stratford-upon-Avon, a must-visit place for a Bardolator such as myself. We will be renting a car, and it will be interesting to see how I do driving a manual transmission on the opposite side of the road.